Sony unveils WF-1000XM6 earbuds – and there's one pretty huge surprise

Sony has unveiled its newest flagship true wireless earbuds – the WF-1000XM6 – after a couple of weeks that featured some pretty detailed photographic leaks. The earbuds, as promised by those images, have a fairly complete redesign to bring to the table.

Where previous generations had a rounded shape in the outer ear, refined over time but culminating in the WF-1000XM5, the XM6 earbuds are more pill-shaped. They also have a very different case, one that is a good chunk bigger than the last generation's, in a slightly surprising move.

The earbuds themselves are apparently 11% narrower than before, which might make them fit more comfortably in a wider range of ears. Sony's being louder about the advancements it's made on noise-cancelling and sound quality, though, both of which get big steps up.

Noise-cancelling is apparently the best in any wireless earbud (albeit without any statistical backup for the claim), not least thanks to the addition of an extra internal microphone on each earbud to process more noise data.

This also helps to cancel out the effects of a new design that allows for more airflow through the ear and earbud, apparently helping with more natural sound quality from your audio. Sony says this, too, should be improved thanks to a redesigned driver.

The airflow also means that the earbuds can more easily detect in the companion app whether you're wearing them correctly, by checking how airtight the seal in your ear is. That sounds potentially like a handy way to work out which of the included tips is best for you.

These steps forward on the audio side probably explain why there's no change in battery life – it remains at eight hours on a single charge, with two more in the case, taking you to 24 hours in total before more power is needed.

The earbuds also don't change anything much on the pricing side of things – that's static from last time, coming in at £250 / $299 / €300. Of course, as always with these new generations, you'll almost certainly see the typical price of the XM5 earbuds now start to slide downwards over time.

We've saved the best news for last, though – I've actually had these earbuds for a couple of weeks, so you can read my detailed thoughts on how they hold up to extended use right here. They'll be available to buy this month, without an exact date yet named.